Immaculate's Steven Ghossaini runs for a first down while under pressure from Oxford's Noah Lisewski, left, and Owen Diaz during their game at Immaculate High School in Danbury on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012. Oxford won, 35-0. less

Immaculate's Steven Ghossaini runs for a first down while under pressure from Oxford's Noah Lisewski, left, and Owen Diaz during their game at Immaculate High School in Danbury on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012. ... more

Oxford's Steve Persson runs the ball while under pressure from Shane Murphy, left, and Michael Woods during their game at Immaculate High School in Danbury on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012. Oxford won, 35-0.

Oxford's Steve Persson runs the ball while under pressure from Shane Murphy, left, and Michael Woods during their game at Immaculate High School in Danbury on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012. Oxford won, 35-0.

"We wanted to win this game for her and present her with the game ball, which we just did. That's what today was all about," Stochmal said. "Our kids played for Brandon, for his mom and his family."

"We've stuck together through it," Stochmal added. "We've been through some hard times, but the kids have persevered. It showed today on the field. They've been working very hard. They wanted to dedicate this season to Brandon and his family, and this is a good way to start."

Giordano would've been a junior this year, and the two-way lineman's No. 69 jersey will be worn each week this season by a different Oxford lineman in his honor.

Saturday, that honor went to senior captain Bucky Gumbrewicz, whose play on the offensive line helped the Wolverines drive the ball up and down the field all afternoon.

"Brandon's spirit was in Bucky today," Stochmal said. "He had a phenomenal game."

Joining Gumbrewicz on the starting offensive line were Justin Hanna, Dan Carbonaro, Josh Kupec and Kyle Sastrum. That group dominated the line of scrimmage as the Wolverines rolled to a 35-0 halftime lead. Most of the Oxford starters saw little or no action in the scoreless second half.

Left-handed Oxford quarterback Brennen Diaz completed seven of 10 passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He hit Kevin Loschiavo with a 12-yard scoring strike to make it 15-0 late in the first quarter and lofted a beautiful 39-yard touchdown pass to Chris VanKamerik down the sideline to make it 22-0 early in the second quarter. Both touchdown passes came on fourth-and-long situations.

Diaz also ran the ball six times for 38 yards and a touchdown. Steve Persson ran the ball seven times for 62 yards and a touchdown, Jeff Haney rushed four times for 44 yards and a score and Marcus Esteves carried the ball seven times for 53 yards. None of those players ran the ball in the second half.

"Definitely, up front, the offensive line makes my job easier, seeing them block," Diaz said. "Turning around and seeing a big hole, it makes it a lot easier."

In the second half, backup quarterback Kyle Chudoba had a 71-yard touchdown run called back because of a holding penalty and had to settle for a 41-yard gain.

On defense for the Wolverines, VanKamerik had an interception and Persson and Dion Major each recovered a fumble. In the first half, the Oxford defense held Immaculate to 12 yards on 13 running plays and no completed passes.

It was a rough start for Immaculate under new head coach Tom Taylor. The Mustangs have has suffered through back-to-back winless seasons and haven't won a game since beating Barlow on Oct. 10, 2009.

"Like everyone else, I'm disappointed with the score and with the loss," said Taylor, whose coaching career includes successful stops at Brookfield, New Milford and Canterbury. "But it wasn't one thing. It starts with me, I'm the head coach.

"We've got to work at some things we thought we were a little bit better at and maybe than we exhibited today," Taylor continued. "We have to work on becoming a faster football team, and we're going to do that. They played hard, and that's all I could ask of them."

Immaculate had four freshmen in its starting lineup Saturday, including quarterback Matthew Ryan, who rushed for seven yards and did not complete a pass.

Junior fullback Steve Ghossaini was the Mustangs' leading rusher with 30 yards on 10 carries. Michael Woods' 11-yard run in the opening minute of the third quarter gave Immaculate its first first down and represented the Mustangs' longest offensive play of the day.

On defense for Immaculate, Ryan Rizzo and Dakarai Esgdaille each recovered a fumble.